Friday, March 28

Reflections on the Mystery of the Second Coming

This paper examines biblical and other references associated with the Second Coming to form the view it remains an enduring
mystery whose immanency declined over the period up until the Council of Nicea
in 320AD. The Second Coming is best analyzed
under the heading of Eschatology, where it figures strongly in religious
studies. The word comes derives from two Greek words which mean last (ἔσχατος) and study (λογία,).

The approach was to research
eschatological references; to consider the revelatory, prophetic or apocalyptic passages
about the second coming. What I aim to
demonstrate is an evolving eschatology developed as the early church was shaped by the writer’s
experiences and the tumultuous events that lead to the destruction of the second temple. I also conclude that Gnosticism was a rallying point for the various strands of orthodoxy to seek unification.

What is evident is the initial expected immediacy of the Second Coming, reasonably construed from passages in the synoptic Gospels, are not evident in Revelations and almost dissipate in Johns Gospel whose focus is the "New Symbolic Jerusalem ", rising from
the ashes of the temples destruction. This paper seeks to argue this conclusion which in turn underwrites my assertion the Second Coming remains an unresolved mystery.

Hence the research undertaken to support this conclusion is based on
material in the Old and New Testaments, with particular emphasis to the
book of Daniel which was written about 160 BCE and the associated literature
around that time up until the destruction of the temple in 70 AD.

What became immediately apparent to me, but is
hardly surprising, is the high degree of correlation of revelatory and
apocalyptic references in the New Testament as if supplanted from the Old; E g
the writers use these references as a means to authorities or reinforce a theme
by way of rich apocalyptic imagery.

I resisted any notion to be prescriptive in
relation to the teaching parables which can have many nuanced or hidden
meanings, but do not seem to be prophetic in nature except for the parable of
the final judgment, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels
with him” which comes from Daniel in the Old Testament.

What this means is that many of the roots for such
prophesies and parables are from the Jewish tradition, adapted to support the
New, with revelatory truth often arising from a myth, which was a means to
explain GOD who remained ineffable in the Hebrew texts. Hence we should not be
surprised when confronted with meanings that seem to be obscure or mysterious
because we are not privy to the context of the message, except what can be
gleaned from the convention of the writer and the audience to which it is
directed. Nor should we literally interpret such passages.

A good example of Old Testament references
appearing in the New comes from the book of Daniel, where scholars link to
references in the synoptics to the Kingdom of GOD or Heaven.

Daniel’s text bears a striking resemblance to what
is in Matthew in “But if so great a power is shown to have followed and to be
still following the dispensation of His suffering, how great shall that be
which shall follow His glorious advent! For He shall come on the clouds as the
Son of man”, so Daniel foretold, “and His angels shall come with Him."

The language of the “Son of Man” is used many times
throughout the synoptics, as is the case in the Old to denote humanity except
for its elevation in Daniel. The original source of the word “Son of Man” is
from the Aramaic phrase (Bar 'eons " ) to mean a certain human being,
hence "someone” or “humanity”.

There are many references in the synoptic gospels
to apocalyptic end of time style prophesies heralding a second coming, with an
emphasis on the sudden and unexpected, that suffice to say, I will not go into
two much detail, except by way of examples:

“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire,
so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels,
and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do
evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the
kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear." (Matthew
13:40-43).”

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the
angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You
do not know when that time will come." (Mark 13:32-33).

So, in summary, we can say Jesus’s public ministry
has its roots in the Old Testament about which Jesus would have intimate
knowledge.

Hence the Old provides the foundation to the New to
ensure enhanced understanding of his teaching and sayings concerning the yet to
the established messianic kingdom, foretold in the Old.

The New Testament eschatology was realised to the
extent of Jesus’s “Sermon on the Mount” with its love and peace theme, combined
with the teaching parables and his sayings, which paved the way for the new
pathway for Christianity.

But as time went on the delay in the Second Coming
became a catalyst for an increasing concern over it validity, evidenced by
Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians. But his emphasis wanes markedly in other letters as new
dominant themes such as “Grace” emerge in the letter to the Romans.

Turning to the book of Revelations, the writers theme is the “new Jerusalem” coming down from heaven, the “holy city” (Rev. 21:2), where there is no need of a temple (Rev. 21:22).

The cosmic battle depicted could be argued was in the context of the wrath of GOD, in judgment, to defeat the power of Rome (the Beast or Satan). The evocative texts therefore could possibly reference
either the impending temple destruction or
its actual destruction, dependant upon when it was written.

There are two opposing views on when Revelations was written; one opting
for a date just prior to the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70, and the
other around 95AD.

However, one might reasonably draw a conclusion the earlier date is more
likely from Revelation 11:1, 2: “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod:
and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the
altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple
leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy
city shall they tread under foot forty and two months”. The period of 42 months coincides historically with the Jewish war with
Rome in AD 67 and the subsequent collapse of the temple. Hence from the historical context of Revelations any references to the Second Coming seems subordinate or perhaps even irrelevant to the writers theme. References from the Book of Revelation and Eschatology.By Dr. Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. for further reading http://www.cmfnow.com/articles/pt552.htm

Elaine Pagel who is Professor of Religion at
Princeton University also provides a slightly different but insightful
perspective, summarised in this book review:

“The
Book of Revelation, a dark and enigmatic account of an apocalyptic end-times
vision populated by warring demons and many-headed beasts, has given rise to
more competing interpretations than most of the rest of the Bible combined.
Even its authorship is disputed, with specialists unsure of whether the John
referenced in the text is the Apostle John or a separate individual. Pagels
(Religion/Princeton Univ., Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping
of Christianity, 2007, etc.)Explores Revelation’s outsized role in the
development of Christian thought and places it in the context of its creation.
Arguing that its language depicting battles in heaven and destruction on earth
is a thinly veiled political screed against the pagan Roman Empire, Pagels
identifies John as a Jewish refugee from Jerusalem following the destruction of
the Temple. Viewing the Book through the prism of the Gnostic Gospels and the
other accounts of prophetic visions that proliferated at the time, she advances
the modern theory that Revelation is a Jewish Christian document fighting back
against Paul’s mission to abrogate Jewish law and bring Christ’s message to the
Gentiles. Pagels’ compelling, carefully researched analysis brings to life the
multitude of factions that quickly arose in the nascent Christian community
after the death of Jesus. The struggle to canonize Revelation was intensely
controversial; to this day, believers fight over how to interpret the vision of
John of Patmos, “reading their own social, political, and religious conflict
into the cosmic war he so powerfully evokes.”

Scholarly
but widely accessible, the book provides a solid introduction to the one book
of the New Testament that claims to be divinely inspired.

Moving forward several decades after the
destruction of the temple we find Johns Gospel takes a comforting approach,inJohn 14:3
and later in 14:8, a place for his disciples and In (14:18) “I will not leave you orphaned; I
am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you
will see me; because I live, you also will live" (14:18-19), which could conceivably
be reference to the post-resurrection
appearance of Christ to the disciples.

It was also written
with the aim of bringing together the competing philosophies and to
combat what was deemed to be heresies.

Hence his gospel was not so much about the
messianic kingdom yet to be fully realised but Christological i.e. centred in
Christ “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his
name.” (John 20:31).

Significantly Johns Gospel also makes no reference
specifically to the Second Coming since its purpose was more to bring together
the competing philosophies and to combat what was deemed to be heresies, such
as Gnosticism which was a growing potent force at that time.

But Johns Christological focus was further developed
by scholars who introduced the idea of the “The Johannine Community
Hypothesis”which predicated a new symbolic Jerusalem to rise
from the ashes of the temples destruction.

John’s approach to counter the growing gnostic movement
which could not accept the validity of GOD represented in ordinary human form was
to say that Jesus Christ was both fully man and fully God.

Gnosticism was significant, as it was first major
heresy faced by the Christian church, although possibly such a term was
premature given at that time there was no agreed gospels, or structure but
rather such diversity as we can scarcely imagine to day. Its fundamental
importance as a heresy was that Gnosticism asserted you can find God yourself,
and you don’t necessarily need a church or bishops or the ecclesiastical
support available under orthodoxy. Hence it acted as catalysist to unify those varying strands of
orthodoxy in opposition since the movement was threatening their power and
influence.

Gnosticism maintained complete
fullness was already present and available in the resurrected Christ, so there
could be no need for a second coming.

Followers were known as Valentinians, as it was foundered on the Valentinian myth, which asserts one can rise above the fallen state of
ignorance and suffering to obtain fullness spiritually in the resurrected
Christ. At least that was the case for most of the movement, although there
were splinters independent to Christianity.

According to the Gnostic Society Library, “They believed
that the experience expressed through the myth was real and that through
visionary experiences (gnosis) and ritual one could experience the events it
described. Thus the "myth" is not merely a teaching story. It is a
metaphorical description of the experience of redemption.”

The traditional view that the
movement may have infuriated St Paul, on the basis of exclusivity available to
only those able to comprehend it, is subject to debate.

Elaine H. Pagels is Professor of Religion at
Princeton University, a Gnostic expert, who argues the Pauline letters were
something that the Gnostics were definitely very fond of, and she would guess,
they were taught by a student of Paul. for further reading click here http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rak//publics/new/BAUER08.htm

So the battle lines of early
Christianity was between the Valentinians (Gnostics) and evolving orthodoxy,
one asserting the fall to ignorance and suffering by humanity in
fullness could be redeemed in the resurrected Christ and Orthodoxy similarly accepting the risen
Christ but also believing in the authority of the evolving church to develop a
theology based on the truth as they perceived it.

Herein then in the evolving orthodoxy there
remained the unresolved mystery of the second coming , which found its way into
the Nicene Creed and gained legitimacy with the later inclusion of the synoptic
gospels into the New Testament in 380AD.

I do not wish to cover any
more ground before returning to my conclusion, since to my mind there is
presented sufficient detail and argument to make my case that the Second Coming
remains an enduring mystery.

But in the sense so much of
the richness of a realized eschatology already exists, in that through grace
and in the spirit of freedom championed by St Paul we are left to unite in
peace as outlined in the Sermon on the Mount and in the parables. Is this not
enough, to apply the golden rule and confine the second coming to a mystery and
the doomsday prophesies that were to proceed such an event?

But possibly I could lead the last word on the
subject to Bishop Kenneth E. Untener, a native of Detroit, who has a doctorate
in theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. In 1977 he was appointed
rector of St. John’s Seminary, Plymouth, Michigan. In 1980 he became bishop of
the Diocese of Saginaw. A writer and popular lecturer, Bishop Untener regularly
conducts retreats for priests and gives talks around the country.

“The image of Jesus coming on a cloud is an
apocalyptic expression, taken straight from the Book of Daniel: “I saw one like
a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven (7:13) and should not be taken
literally.

Instead of fretting about the question of when we
are wiser to focus on the question of who, namely, upon a loving God who
promises to walk with us to the end, whenever that occurs. Our understanding of
the “end” flows from a real-life conviction about the here-and-now meaning of
our lives and our universe. In short, we believe with St. Paul that the same
God who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of
Christ Jesus.”

4 comments:

One of the less known theories about the 'Fall of Man' that has appealed to me ever since I first read about it says that the 'Fall' and the apparently degraded nature of material reality, provides a testing ground for a soul to develop qualities that will mature its spirit and make it ready to take the journey to the divine. It was the German philosopher Schelling who wrote that the 'Fall of Man' was 'the most fortunate and greatest event in human history', because from it arose the perspective of opposites which allows for maturity.

Even if the only thing left to us by Jesus was his Sermon on the Mount, that too would be enough to inspire reverence and awe.

As you say, the mystery of the Second Coming must remain exactly that.

Hi Susan.Many thanks for your insightful comment. As you’re probably aware my favourite philosopher is Albert Schweitzer, who followed on in the footsteps of previous greats such as Schelling. One quote I like from him is: “Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.” ― Albert SchweitzerSchweitzer believed we had fallen into the trap of a material world and its false values to the extent that the only way forward was to stop and reclaim the principle of “reverence for all life” that defines the values necessary, to realise the true ethic of love, encapsulated in the “Sermon on the Mount” I am afraid it remains unrealised although there are some encouraging signs. Best wishes

Hi Susan, We are privileged in our limited understanding of the immensity, richness and complexity of what seems to be an infinite universe.

It is scarcely imaginable what riches lie ahead beyond our understanding, a glimpse of which is evident in the remarkable progress we have made over the past few hundred years.

Yet at the most basic lervel, we are still unable to trust one another, hence we make little spiritual progress. We lack confidence, and are afraid to cast aside our material dependance, clinging to it like a closely guarded treaasure, even though it counts for nought.

I agree, all we can do can do is pray, meditate (self-examine) in the hopes that individual effort will help all.

About Me

I have worked in the roles as Company Secretary or Divisional financial executive with larger Australian based multinational companies before changing careers in favour of sales and marketing for the latter 12 years of business life.
My particular interests include corporate social responsibility, ethics and research into more sustainable business practices.
I am a fellow of CPA Australia and an Associate member of the Governance Institute of Australia which was previously called the Chartered Secretaries Australia. I am chairman of the Malawi Support group who are a small group of catholic parishioners who raise funds to support a sister parish in Malawi.